Bangkok in crisis mode as floods advance

BANGKOK - Bangkok's second airport shut down Tuesday as floodwaters advanced into the Thai capital, forcing authorities in "crisis mode" to declare a five-day public holiday in preparation for the deluge. The Cabinet ordered an October 27-31 holiday for Bangkok and 20 other provinces affected by the kingdom's worst flooding in decades, amid warnings a high tide would surge up the capital's main river and escalate the disaster. "The government has switched to a crisis mode as a massive run-off will arrive in the capital on October 26, coinciding with a high tide on October 28," the Flood Relief Operations Centre (FROC) said in a statement. In a televised address to the kingdom late Tuesday, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra gave a stark prediction of the potential impact of the flooding, saying the water was "at full force, which is more than the barriers can hold". She sa...